Mineral dust  aerosols produced  by wind erosion in arid and semi-arid regions contribute for more than 40% of the total annual emissions of tropospheric aerosols. In the atmosphere, these aerosols influence the terrestrial radiative balance and are thus major contributors to climate forcing. Dust deposition is a significant source of nutrients (Fe, P, …) for remote oceanic ecosystems regions, while dust emission contributes to soil loss in source regions. The research activities carried at LISA in this field are mainly focused on the quantification of dust emissions, transport and deposition, in order to assess their radiative and biogeochemical impacts. For this objective, intensive (ground-based and airborne) and longterm field measurements and laboratory experiments are coupled with numerical simulations.